New Zealand | Musicosity

New Zealand

Jakob

Jakob is a New Zealand post-rock band, based in Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The band consists of guitarist Jeff Boyle; bassist Maurice Beckett; and drummer Jason Johnston. They have been compared to such bands as Mogwai, Sonic Youth, and HDU, though they largely eschew any vocals or samples in their songs. The band formed in July 1998, and began by opening for New Zealand bands Salmonella Dub and Pitch Black at the local pub O'Flaherty's. They toured extensively throughout 1999, releasing that same year a self-titled EP recorded with David Holmes at Napier's Venn Production Studios.

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The Ruby Suns

'Fight Softly' is the third album by New Zealand's pop masters The Ruby Suns. Ryan McPhun (their prime mover) has the kind of voracious musical mind that cites as equal influences '80s/'90s New Jack Swing and modern Angolan kuduro, Fleetwood Mac and Britney Spears, Brazilian tropicalia and Argentinean cumbia. He's the kind of diligent, meticulous soul that spends days hunched over a laptop in a tiny rented studio in Auckland, NZ just to perfect a sequenced drum track (mission accomplished).

Little Bushman

The Onus Of Sand is the highly anticipated debut album from Warren Maxwell's rockin' heavy blues band Little Bushman (from New Zeland). Warren Maxwell, formally lead singer with NZ band Trinityroots, is masterfully navigating his new band Little Bushman through the deep waters of 60s/70s style Blues tinged Psych Rock (with heavy nods towards Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Who), all the while keeping it aimed directly at the heart of the New Zealand roots sound he helped pioneer.

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The Bats

There are at least three artists called The Bats: Approaching a quarter century of recording and performing, Christchurch, New Zealand's The Bats have survived seven albums and five world tours with the original line-up of Kaye Woodward, Malcolm Grant, Paul Kean and Robert Scott intact. With a sound at the jangle/indie end of the pop spectrum, the band made significant headway in the States in the 80s alongside Flying Nun label-mates The Chills and The Clean. The 90s saw tours of the US and Europe, supporting the likes of Radiohead, Belly, and R.

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Tim Finn

Tim Finn started as a member of New Zealand's art-rock pioneers, Split Enz, and eventually emerged as one of the band's chief songwriters and most recognizable voices. He has also released a number of solo albums, and was for a time a member of brother Neil Finn's band Crowded House. He and Neil have also released two albums to date as Finn Brothers.

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David Dallas

David Dallas (born August 28 in Papatoetoe, Auckland) is an award winning New Zealand rapper and producer, formerly known as Con Psy, signed to P-Money's Dirty Records. He released his debut EP Something Now in 2008, and then his debut solo album, Something Awesome, was released in August 2009. His second next album, The Rose Tint, was released in May 2011 and featured appearances from Freddie Gibbs, PNC and Buckshot. He is also half of the award winning duo Frontline, who were the recipients of the New Zealand Music Awards Best Hip Hop Album award in 2006 for their album Borrowed Time.

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Bic Runga

Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one in the New Zealand charts, and has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists of our time. Runga has also found success internationally in Australia and the UK. Her fourth album, Belle, was released in New Zealand on 14 November 2011. Songfacts reports that "Hello Hello", the first single from Belle...

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Brooke Fraser

Held every year on verdant polo grounds in Indio, California, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is many things to many people: A way to hear the best alternative music, a giant lawn party of hipsters wearing hemp sunhats, or the one place you can gawk at members of super-bands as they ride around on golf carts. For Brooke Fraser, Coachella 2009 was the event that re-awakened her desire to make music. It was April and the New Zealand-born singer and songwriter was burnt out after completing a three-year tour supporting her second album, 2006’s Albertine, which debuted at No.

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